GUNMEN are targeting Walthamstow homes, apparently at random, firing shots into front rooms.

Families are lucky to have escaped with their lives after six attacks this month.

Armed police patrols are being stepped up to protect and reassure residents.

But officers are struggling to cope with an upsurge in gang-related gun crime across the borough.

Reports of gun-related incidents in Waltham Forest for July to August doubled this year, compared with the same period in 2004.

Resources are also being stretched because extra security is needed in central London after the terror attacks of July 7.

The latest shooting was late on Sunday night at a house in Lamorna Close, Walthamstow.

A family were sitting in the back room when they heard a loud bang. They rushed to the front and found a hole in the window caused by a gunshot.

This is the second time the house has been targeted. On September 17 a man leapt from the passenger seat of a black Honda Civic, registered EF02 CXP, and fired shots into the house.

Last week we reported that a middle-aged couple in Waverley Road, Walthamstow, cheated death when a bullet ricocheted around their front room.

The man, who is disabled, usually sleeps in that room but his decision to sleep upstairs that night probably saved his life.

Detectives from Operation Trident and Trafalgar, the Met Police shootings investigation teams, are trying to establish a motive for the attacks.

A police spokeswoman said the first three incidents happened on Friday, September 16.

She said: "Police were called after a member of the public saw a group of between 15 to 20 men at the end of Walnut Road, Walthamstow. A loud bang was heard and it is believed the group ran off in the direction of Magnolia Close."

Numerous gunshot holes were later found in the front door.

Later that night a similar attack happened at an address in Fletcher Lane, Leyton.

The front door of a house in Stocksfield Road, Walthamstow, was also peppered with bullets.

DS Neil Lemon, of Operation Trident, said: "We are using forensics and intelligence to find out if there is any link between the addresses. This is being done as fast as possible but as yet we can find nothing to link the addresses."

Anyone with more information should call the Trident Shootings team on 020 8733 4717 or to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.